The history of The Walt Disney Company’s animated canon can be broken up into various eras. By far the most popular is the Disney Renaissance from 1989 to 1999, which came about due to the arrival of Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Frank Wells, and the decision to put more faith into animated films following the modest success of The Great Mouse Detective and the smash hit of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This era saw Disney reclaim their title as the number 1 animation company as they swept the Oscars, inspired copycats, and shaped popular culture.
While every film in the Disney Renaissance has its fans—including the criminally forgotten The Rescuers Down Under—some films are objectively more beloved than others, and have left a much bigger impact on popular culture. They can easily rank among not just some of the best films in Disney’s library, but some of the best animated films ever.
‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989)
Ariel (Jodi Benson) is the youngest daughter of the sea king, Triton (Kenneth Mars), but frustrates him because she has a fascination with the surface world and human culture. One night, she rescues a human prince named Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) from drowning in a storm, and falls in love with him. Unbeknownst to Ariel, she is being watched by the sea witch, Urusla (Pat Carroll), who hopes to use Ariel’s naïveté to lure her into a dark bargain that she can use to usurp control of the sea from Triton.
The Little Mermaid was Disney’s return to its roots with a fairy tale musical, and by God, was it the perfect movie to usher in this new golden age. The animation is phenomenal, especially with how effectively the animators make Ariel’s hair move underwater, and the fact that over one million bubbles were drawn by hand, adding even more realism to the underwater world. The story and characters are some of the most iconic in Disney’s lineup: Ariel and Eric both stand out for being proactive characters who helped pave the way for a new generation of princesses and princes, while Ursula reigns as one of Disney’s best villains thanks to her bombastic personality and Caroll’s deliciously evil performance. But what really stands out about the film is the music. This was the first movie to feature the legendary duo of lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, and their use of Broadway-style musical storytelling gave the movie an identity so strong that it would come to define nearly all animated films of the 1990s.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991)
When a young prince (Robby Benson) refuses to allow an old woman shelter in a storm, she reveals herself to be an enchantress, and curses him into the form of a beast unless he can learn to love and be loved in return before the last petal of an enchanted rose falls. 10 years later, the Beast imprisons a lost inventor named Maurice (Rex Everhart), but his daughter, Belle (Paige O’Hara), trades herself for his freedom. As the two try to see if a relationship can be formed, the town hero, Gaston (Richard White), has eyes for Belle as well, and is willing to claim her by any means necessary.
The odds were stacked against Beauty and the Beast from the beginning: it was completely re-made from the ground up halfway into production, causing the original director to quit, and the animators to work overtime to meet a 1991 release date, all while Howard Ashman was dying from complications of AIDS. In the end, that hard work paid off, and the film made history by becoming the first animated film to be nominated at the Oscars for Best Picture (it’s still the only 2D animated film, and the only one nominated when the Oscars had 5 nominees instead of 10). The secret to its success is in how it adapts the soul of the original fairy tale while expanding on the story and characters. Belle and Beast are two of Disney’s most well-developed characters, resulting in realistic dialogues between them as they go through all the trials and tribulations of trying to make their relationship work. Combined with the stellar animation, lovable side-characters, fantastic villain, and iconic music, Beauty and the Beast stands at the pinnacle of Disney’s fairy tale movies, and set a very high bar for all movies that would follow.
‘Aladdin’ (1992)
Aladdin (Scott Weinger), is street-thief living in the city of Agraba who dreams of living as rich as the Sultan (Douglas Seale) so that people will respect him. Unfortunately, he is thrown in prison after a chance meeting with Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), but is let out by the Royal Vizier, Jafar (Johnathan Freeman), who needs Aladdin to get inside the magical Cave of Wonder (Frank Welker). Within lies a magic lamp containing a genie (Robin Williams), who can grant three wishes to anyone who wields it.
Aladdin began as a passion project of Howard Ahsmman’s, but after his death, many elements of his original idea had to be changed for the sake of storytelling. It’s hard to argue with the end result: Aladdin is one of Disney’s tightest scripts, with a great structure with little to no filler. The characters all have strong personalities, but by far the standout example is the Genie. Williams’ performance, combined with Eric Golberg’s perfectly timed animation, results in a character who has audiences bursting with laughter one moment, then tugs at their heartstrings another as he develops a sweet friendship with Aladdin. The character’s success changed animation forever, as it showed that major celebrities and animated movies were a source of big money. Aside from the Genie, the movie also has a wonderful moral about being true to yourself and prioritizing honesty over material wealth.
‘The Lion King’ (1994)
Simba (Johnathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick), is the son of the noble lion, King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and will one day succeed him as ruler of the Pride Lands. Unfortunately, his uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) covets the throne, and makes an alliance with Mufasa’s enemies, the hyenas, to have them both killed. Simba manages to escape and lives in exile with a meerkat named Timon (Nathan Lane) and a warthog named Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), but in his absence, Scar leads the Pride Lands to ruin.
The Lion King entered production as the B movie to fill a 1994 release slot while Disney’s A team worked on Pocahontas, which they hoped would win Best Picture. Nowadays, the latter is seen as one of Disney’s more flawed movies of the Renaissance, while the former broke all kinds of records, including the highest-grossing 2D animated film. One reason for its success is its sense of scale. The movie is gigantic, using sweeping camera angles and playing around with the foreground to emphasize the size and power of the African Savannah and the animals that live there. The music by Sir Tim Rice and Sir Elton John, while not quite as good as the Howard and Ashman stuff, is still catchy and a joy to listen to, especially songs like “The Circle of Life” and “Be Prepared.” In terms of the story, it’s one of Disney’s most grand, reaching Shakespearean levels of tragedy as it emphasizes owning your mistakes and the importance of fulfilling one’s responsibilities.
‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1996)
Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) is the hunched-back bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral who is forbidden to travel the streets of Paris by his adoptive father, Judge Claud Frollo (Tony Jay). He sneaks out anyway to attend the Festival of Fools, and though the crowd does turn on him, he is saved by a Romani woman named Esmeralda (Demi Moore), much to the ire of Frollo. Quasimodo then helps her escape Frollo when he accuses her of witchcraft, leading to romantic feelings from Quasimodo, and lust from Frollo, who is willing to burn down all of Paris in his quest to find her.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame deviates a lot from Victor Hugo’s novel to make it a family film, including the trio of gargoyles Victor (Charles Kimbrough), Hugo (Jason Alexander), and Laverne (Mary Wickes), who rank among Disney’s worst side characters. However, when it works, it really works. The film is still one of Disney’s darkest even with the alterations, presenting themes of lust, prejudice, heartbreak, and what defines a monster, with maturity that doesn’t talk down to the kids. It also helps that the characters are wonderful: Quasimodo is a lovable protagonist thanks to his gentle heart and Hulce’s performance, Esmeralda and Captain Phoebus (Kevin Kline) have fun banter and are committed to justice, and Frollo is hands down one of Disney’s most vile villains. It’s also got Alan Menken’s best music, using church bells and Latin choirs to add to the movie’s size and granture, especially during the heavy-hitting songs like “Hellfire.”
‘Mulan’ (1998)
The Hun warlord Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) has invaded China, so one man from each family is conscripted into the Royal Army to repel him. Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen), the only child of veteran Fa Zhou (Soon-tek Oh), takes his place to save his life by disguising herself as a man. She is joined by Mushu (Eddie Murphy), a guardian dragon who hopes to make Mulan a great war hero to get back into the good graces of her ancestor spirits, and makes friends among her company, including her commanding officer, Li Shang (BD Wong).
Mulan was not well received in China for how much Disney Americanized the original legend, but in the West, it’s a beloved classic and represents a pretty major step in Disney tackling stories from different cultures. The movie perfectly captures the look of classic Chinese art, especially in its use of colors, which leads to gorgeous landscape shots and intense action. Story-wise, the film does tackle gender norms as you would expect, but it also emphasizes the importance of individuality and how one person’s success can inspire others. Mulan herself is also a great protagonist thanks to her struggle with self-acceptance and clever solution to problems, and Murphy is having a ball as Mushu, especially when he tries to help Mulan keep up her disguise.
